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Lunch Ideas Needed...

Tony'sMom

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Tony'sMom Rookie
Tony'sMom
Posted

Hi everyone :)

My son is going into the first grade and starts school next week. Now that he's going to be in school all day I need some kid friendly lunch ideas that I can pack for him. What are some of your kids favorite lunches?

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Nantzie Collaborator
Nantzie
Posted

My kids love Pamela's Wheat Free Bread. It works really good as PB&J and any other sandwiches, toast, bread and butter, doesn't fall apart and is really close to wheat bread.

Nancy

kirst4588 Apprentice
kirst4588
Posted

Order a case of Wellshire Farms gluten free dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets. It's so easy to put a few in a zip lock and throw it in the lunch box. Also, make a few boxes of Annies gluten-free macaroni and cheese on Sunday, and then portion them all out into little tupperware containers for the week, that can easily go in the lunch box.

Hi everyone :)

My son is going into the first grade and starts school next week. Now that he's going to be in school all day I need some kid friendly lunch ideas that I can pack for him. What are some of your kids favorite lunches?

sparkles Contributor
sparkles
Posted

I think it is Ziplock that makes a divided container sort of like the containers that lunchables are in and make your child his own lunchable. Hormel makes a gluten-free turkey pepperoni....add some gluten-free crackers and cheese and your child has his very own lunchable. Be sure to add some kind of treat and some fruit. My kids always liked the lunchables and since we couldn't afford them, I would make them great "one of a kind" lunchables!!!!! (We didn't know about celiac disease when my kids were growing up....though l was really sick with it...just didn't know what it was) Anyway, there are sorts of homemade lunchables that you could make up and they are so easy to do that your child can start learning to make his own lunch. My kids all made their own lunches. It was something we did together right after supper when the kitchen was still a mess and everyone made what they wanted for the next day's lunch. The younger ones couldn't wait until they were in school and could make their own lunch. Train them young when they still think that doing chores is fun and by the time they figure out that what they are doing is a chore, it will be a habit and they will do it anyway.... works for laundry, cleaning....lots of stuff they need to learn anyway!!!! Good luck.... it can't be easy feeding a child with celiac disease when they are away from home!!!!!

wolfie Enthusiast
wolfie
Posted

DS does PB sandwiches with Gluten-Free Pantry's French Bread, Go-Gurt Smoothies, applesauce, Enviro-Kids Crispy Rice Bars, Gushers, taco salads, grilled chicken salads, hard boiled eggs. We try to rotate so that he isn't always eating the same thing.

Guest nini
Guest nini
Posted

my daughter just started first grade too and I get Ian's Allergen Free/gluten-free fish sticks and chicken nuggets. I heat them in the microwave in the morning, wrap them in foil and send in a small container of ketchup for dipping. Dinty Moore beef stew is gluten-free and Hormel Beanies and Weenies are gluten-free I heat those up in the morning and put in thermos. Amy's creamy tomato soup is gluten-free and also heat that up and put in thermos with some gluten-free crackers or cheese toast made with Kinnikinick Italian White Tapioca Rice Bread. I als make bologna, ham and cheese or pb&j sandwiches with K's bread. I warm it in the microwave in the morning and make the sandwich and put in sandwich baggie. When I make tacos for dinner if I have leftover shells and meat I can either make her a taco in the morning and wrap in foil or make a taco salad in a glad disposable reuseable container. Corn Thins are another fun thing to make sandwiches out of, they are yummy with tuna salad on them (you can pack the tuna salad in a separate container and he can just dip the corn thins in the tuna so they don't get soggy before lunch).

I download the schools lunch menu off of the county website every month and try to make something similar for my daughter each day. There are usually 3 choices on the menu and I can usually find something that I can substitute for her and make it similar. The lunch ladies are also helping me with hot veggies and fresh fruit. If she wants to get that she can. I just have to call in the morning and let them know she will be getting a hot vegetable and they will hold one aside for her that isn't cooked in broth or seasoned.

I also stock up on those single serving fruit cups and applesauce, yogurts and puddings and put those in her lunchbox. When I make popcorn, I bag up small portions in sandwich baggies and can also put that in her lunchbox. (sandwich baggies are my friend)

Cheese sticks, Hormel pepperoni, EnerG crackers, Glutino crackers, American cheese, corn thins, corn chips... on and on... these are all good for lunchable type lunches...

When I make spagetti for dinner I make enough for leftovers and I freeze in individual portions then can microwave one in the morning and put in thermos with some Glutino bread sticks on the side, I do the same with macaroni and cheese, the freezer and Tinkyada pasta are lifesavers! (I invested in a big drop in freezer so that I could have enough room for everything. it was the best investment I made)

Tony'sMom Rookie
Tony'sMom
Posted
  • Author

You guys are awsome!!! Thank you so much for your help :)

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    • SamAlvi
      High TTG-IgG and Normal TTG-IgA

      By SamAlvi · Posted

      Thanks again for the detailed explanation. Just to clarify, I actually did have my initial tests done while I was still consuming gluten. I stopped eating gluten only after those tests were completed, and it has now been about 70 days since I went gluten-free. I understand the limitations around diagnosing NCGS and the importance of antibody testing and biopsy for celiac disease. Unfortunately, where I live, access to comprehensive testing (including total IgA and endoscopy with biopsy) is limited, which makes things more complicated. Your explanation about small-bowel damage, nutrient absorption, and iron-deficiency anemia still aligns closely with my history, and it’s been very helpful in understanding what may be going on. I don't wanna get Endoscopy and I can't start eating Gluten again because it's hurt really with severe diarrhea.  I appreciate you taking the time to share such detailed and informative guidance. Thank you so much for this detailed and thoughtful response. I really appreciate you pointing out the relationship between anemia and antibody patterns, and how the high DGP IgG still supports celiac disease in my case. A gluten challenge isn’t something I feel safe attempting due to how severe my reactions were, so your suggestion about genetic testing makes a lot of sense. I’ll look into whether HLA testing is available where I live and discuss it with my doctor. I also appreciate you mentioning gastrointestinal beriberi and thiamine deficiency. This isn’t something any of my doctors have discussed with me, and given my symptoms and nutritional history, it’s definitely worth raising with them. I’ll also ask about correcting deficiencies more comprehensively, including B vitamins alongside iron. Thanks again for sharing your knowledge and taking the time to help. I’ll update the forum as I make progress.
    • knitty kitty
      Son's legs shaking

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      Blood tests for thiamine are unreliable.  The nutrients from your food get absorbed into the bloodstream and travel around the body.  So, a steak dinner can falsely raise thiamine blood levels in the following days.  Besides, thiamine is utilized inside cells where stores of thiamine are impossible to measure. A better test to ask for is the Erythrocyte Transketolace Activity test.  But even that test has been questioned as to accuracy.  It is expensive and takes time to do.   Because of the discrepancies with thiamine tests and urgency with correcting thiamine deficiency, the World Health Organization recommends giving thiamine for several weeks and looking for health improvement.  Thiamine is water soluble, safe and nontoxic even in high doses.   Many doctors are not given sufficient education in nutrition and deficiency symptoms, and may not be familiar with how often they occur in Celiac disease.  B12 and Vitamin D can be stored for as long as a year in the liver, so not having deficiencies in these two vitamins is not a good indicator of the status of the other seven water soluble B vitamins.  It is possible to have deficiency symptoms BEFORE there's changes in the blood levels.   Ask your doctor about Benfotiamine, a form of thiamine that is better absorbed than Thiamine Mononitrate.  Thiamine Mononitrate is used in many vitamins because it is shelf-stable, a form of thiamine that won't break down sitting around on a store shelf.  This form is difficult for the body to turn into a usable form.  Only thirty percent is absorbed in the intestine, and less is actually used.   Thiamine interacts with all of the other B vitamins, so they should all be supplemented together.  Magnesium is needed to make life sustaining enzymes with thiamine, so a magnesium supplement should be added if magnesium levels are low.   Thiamine is water soluble, safe and nontoxic even in high doses.  There's no harm in trying.
    • lizzie42
      Son's legs shaking

      By lizzie42 · Posted

      Neither of them were anemic 6 months after the Celiac diagnosis. His other vitamin levels (d, B12) were never low. My daughters levels were normal after the first 6 months. Is the thiamine test just called thiamine? 
    • knitty kitty
      Son's legs shaking

      By knitty kitty · Posted

      Yes, I do think they need a Thiamine supplement at least. Especially since they eat red meat only occasionally. Most fruits and vegetables are not good sources of Thiamine.  Legumes (beans) do contain thiamine.  Fruits and veggies do have some of the other B vitamins, but thiamine B 1 and  Cobalamine B12 are mostly found in meats.  Meat, especially organ meats like liver, are the best sources of Thiamine, B12, and the six other B vitamins and important minerals like iron.   Thiamine has antibacterial and antiviral properties.  Thiamine is important to our immune systems.  We need more thiamine when we're physically ill or injured, when we're under stress emotionally, and when we exercise, especially outside in hot weather.  We need thiamine and other B vitamins like Niacin B 3 to keep our gastrointestinal tract healthy.  We can't store thiamine for very long.  We can get low in thiamine within three days.  Symptoms can appear suddenly when a high carbohydrate diet is consumed.  (Rice and beans are high in carbohydrates.)  A twenty percent increase in dietary thiamine causes an eighty percent increase in brain function, so symptoms can wax and wane depending on what one eats.  The earliest symptoms like fatigue and anxiety are easily contributed to other things or life events and dismissed.   Correcting nutritional deficiencies needs to be done quickly, especially in children, so their growth isn't stunted.  Nutritional deficiencies can affect intelligence.  Vitamin D deficiency can cause short stature and poor bone formation.   Is your son taking anything for the anemia?  Is the anemia caused by B12 or iron deficiency?  
    • lizzie42
      Son's legs shaking

      By lizzie42 · Posted

      Thank you! That's helpful. My kids eat very little processed food. Tons of fruit, vegetables, cheese, eggs and occasional red meat. We do a lot of rice and bean bowls, stir fry, etc.  Do you think with all the fruits and vegetables they need a vitamin supplement? I feel like their diet is pretty healthy and balanced with very limited processed food. The only processed food they eat regularly is a bowl of Cheerios here and there.  Could shaking legs be a symptom of just a one-time gluten exposure? I guess there's no way to know for sure if they're getting absolutely zero exposure because they do go to school a couple times a week. We do homeschool but my son does a shared school 2x a week and my daughter does a morning Pre-K 3 x a week.  At home our entire house is strictly gluten free and it is extremely rare for us to eat out. If we eat at someone else's house I usually just bring their food. When we have play dates we bring all the snacks, etc. I try to be really careful since they're still growing. They also, of course, catch kids viruses all the time so I  want to make sure I know whether they're just sick or they've had gluten. It can be pretty confusing when they're pretty young to even be explaining their symptoms! 
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